This invention relates to an apparatus for handling a measuring instrument which measures some characteristic of the inside of a nuclear reactor.
During the operation of a nuclear reactor, it is necessary to lower various measuring instruments into the reactor. A conventional apparatus for handling such measuring instruments employs a motor-driven take-up drum having a wire wrapped around it, and the measuring instrument which is to be lowered into the reactor is connected to the end of the wire rope. For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-20462 (1981) discloses a handling apparatus for nuclear instrumentation employing a take-up drum which is driven by an electric motor. However, with this arrangement, each measuring instrument which needs to be handled requires a separate motor for the corresponding take-up drum. When there are a plurality of measuring instruments to be handled, a corresponding number of motors must be employed, and thus the conventional handling apparatus has the problem of being both expensive and bulky.